Record sensing mechanism



Oct. 26, 1954 E. J. GUTTRIDGE ETAL 2,692,729

RECORD SENSING MECHANISM s Sheets-Shet 1 Filed Aug. 28, 1953 r0 SWITCH72 INVENTORS ERIC JOHN GUTTRIDGE RAYMOND owsu PARMENTER Oct 1954 E. J.GUTTRIDGE. EI'AL 2,692,729

RECORD SENSING MECHANISM Filed Aug. 28, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORSERIC JOHN GUTTRIDGE RAYMOND OWEN PARMENTER RECORD SENSING MECHANISM 3Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 28, 1953 INYENTORS ERIC JOHN- GUTTRIDGERAYMOND OWEN PARMENTER Patented Oct. 26, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE RECORD SENSING MECHANISM Application August 28, 1953, Serial No.377,164

Claims priority, application Great Britain October 22, 1952 7 Claims.

This invention relates to record card controlled statistical machinesand in particular to apparatus for automatically rendering temporarilyineffective a no-card detector device provided at the output end of themachine.

As is well understood in the art, during the operation of a statisticalmachine there are usually located a plurality of cards between the inputand output positions of the machine and such machines are usuallyprovided with a no-card detector device at the output end thereof, whichdevice is operative to interrupt the operation of the machine in theevent that a card following its passage through the machine does notreach the detector device at the proper time. Heretofore when startingup a statistical machine, it has been customary to prime the machinewith cards so that on starting the machine the nocard detector devicedoes not immediately operate, thereby interrupting the operation of themachine before it has become fully operative.

It is a main object of the present invention to provide apparatusautomatically to render incfiective the operation of the detector deviceat the output end of the machine for a predetermined interval whenstarting up the machine, and permitting the detector device to becomeoperative only when the first card fed from a magazine at the input endof the machine reaches the detector device at the output end thereof.

According to the present invention there is provided in a record cardcontrolled statistical machine having a main shaft driven from a sourceof motivating power through a solenoid controlled clutch, apparatuscomprising a normally open knock-off switch at the output end of themachine and included in the solenoid circuit, a normally closed delayswitch in series with the knockolT switch, a normally inactive relayconnecting said solenoid with a source of potential and permittingenergisation of the solenoid when one or both of the knock-off and delayswitches is or are open, reduction gearing driven in timed relation withsaid main shaft, a one-revolution delay cam coupled to the reductiongearing on operation of the solenoid to effect rotation of the mainshaft, switch operating means operated by the delay cam to retain saiddelay switch in open condition during the one revolution of the cam, andinterrupter means carried by the delay cam to effect uncoupling of thecam from the reduction gearing on termination of said one revolutionthereby to restore the delay switch to the normally closed conditionthereof and to condition the solenoid circuit for subsequent control bythe knock-off switch.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood one embodimentthereof will now be described, by way of example, with reference to theaccompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates diagrammatically a detector device located at theoutput end of the machine,

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic pictorial View of some of the apparatus shownin Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a pictorial view, partly exploded, of a clutch device includedin the driving means for the machine and by which operation of themachine can be interrupted and restarted,

Fig. 4 is an elevation illustrating a delay mechanism according to theinvention,

Fig. 5 is a section on line V -V, Fig. 4, and illustrates a reductiongearing included in Fig. 4, and

Fig. 6 is a circuit diagram illustrating the connexion between switchesincluded in the appa ratus according to the invention.

Referring to the drawings, record cards are fed through the machine froma magazine, not shown, at the input end of the machine, the cards beingfed, as is customary, through the machine by pairs of rollers, notshown, the rollers being positively rotated by gearing, also not shown,driven from a main shaft I, Figs. 3 and v4:, through a clutch deviceconnecting the shaft l to a continuously rotated shaft 2, Fig. 3, whichis rotated by any suitable means, for example an electric motor, notshown.

The clutch device forms an interrupter device whereby operation of themachine canpe interrupted and restarted and comprises a clutch dog 3secured to a worm wheel 4, freely rotatable on shaft I and driven by aworm 5, secured to shaft 2. A clutch pawl 5 is carried by and is pivotedto a disc I secured to the shaft I for rotation therewith and is urgedby a spring, not shown, to the active position thereof shown in Figs. 3and l. A trip member 8 pivoted at 9 is normally held out of engagementwith the pawl 6 but is operable by the armature Ill, Fig. 4, of asolenoid II, as described below, to trip the pawl 6 out of engagementwith the clutch dog 3, thereby interrupting the operation of themachine.

The main shaft I, through gearing not shown, drives a shaft 12, Figs. 1and 2, in a manner such that the shaft I2 rotates once for eachrevolution of the shaft 1. To the shaft I2 is secured a cam [3 withwhich co-operates a follower roller M carried by a link 15, the upperend of which is provided with a slot iii. In the slot 18 is located apin I! carried by an arm l8 secured to a rocking spindle I9 to which isalso secured two further arms 28 and 2| respectively. The arm 20supports a detector roller 22 which is freely rotatable on a stubspindle 23 secured to the arm 20, and the roller 22 is supported by thearm 20 for movement thereby bodily towards the path of cards C throughthe machine to determine whether a card is, as shown in Fig. 1, locatedbeneath the roller during the movement thereof bodily towards the pathof the card. Should no card C be in position beneath the roller duringits movement towards the path of the cards it passes between two rollers24 secured to a spindle 25 to which is also secured eject rollers, notshown, for ejecting a card C, Fig. 1, from the machine. If the detectorroller 22 detects the absence of a card it operates, through arm ZI, anormally open knock-off switch about to be described.

As above mentioned, in Fig. 1 the card C is shown in position betweenthe roller 22 and the rollers 24 and, in this position, the pin I1 israised from the bottom of the slot I6 although normally it rests on thebottom of the slot, the arm I8 being pulled downwards, as viewed in Fig.1, by a spring 26.

The arm 2| is connected to a contact operating arm 21, the forward endof which is provided with a sloping face 28 engaged by a contact carrier29 pivoted at 30. The contact carrier 29 supports for movement therewitha moving contact 3| for co-operation with a fixed contact 32. Thecontact operating arm 21 is supported for substantially horizontalmovement by an abutment 33 which engages the under-side thereof.

During the normal operation of the machine the dwell in cam I3 permitslowering of the link I5, as viewed in Fig. 1, so that, should a card notbe positioned between the detector roller 22 and rollers 24 on movementof the roller 22 towards the path of the card the roller 22 passesbetween the rollers 24 thus rocking spindle I9 counterclockwise, asviewed in Fig. l, whereupon the arm 2I moves the contact operating arm21 to the right, as viewed in Fig. 1, thus permitting the contactcarrier 29 to be lowered until the moving contact 3I engages with thecontact 32 whereupon the solenoid II is de-energised and a spring 34,Fig. 4, moves the trip member 8 from the full line position thereofshown in Fig. 4 to the dotted line position thereof so that it isinterposed in the path of the tail 35 of the clutch pawl 6 therebytripping the pawl 6 out of engagement with the clutch dog 3 andinterrupting the operation of the main shaft I.

To render operation of the detector device 22, 3 I, 32 ineffectivewhilst, on starting up of the machine, the first card is being movedfrom the magazine into position between the rollers 22, 24 there isprovided a normally closed delay switch comprising a fixed contact 36and a moving contact 31 which, as can be seen from Fig. 6, are in serieswith the contacts BI, 32. Operation of the contact 31, which issupported for movement with a contact carrier 38, Fig. 4, pivoted at 39,is controlled by reduction gearing comprising four gear wheels 40, ll,42, 43 which, in the machine being described, comprise a 4:5 reductiongearing. The gear Wheel 49 is secured to a shaft 44, for rotationtherewith, the shaft 44, Fig. 5, being rotated by gearing, not shown,from the main shaft I so as to rotate in a 1:1 ratio with the shaft I.The gear wheel 43 is supported on a stub spindle 45 which, due to the4:1 ratio gearing, rotates once for each four revolutions of shaft 44.Secured to the spindle 45 for rotation therewith is a toothed wheel 46and freely rotatable on the spintile 45 is a one-revolution delay cam 41to which,

at 48, Fig. 4, is pivoted a pawl 49 engageable with the teeth of thewheel 46 to couple the cam 41 to the spindle for rotation therewith. Thepawl 49 is urged towards the teeth of the wheel 46 by a spring 50 and isrendered normally inactive, that is it is retained out of engagementwith the teeth of the wheel, by the co-operation of a tail 5I on thepawl with tri means comprising an overturned portion 52 formed on alatching bell-crank 53 pivoted at 54 to a frame plate 55. To thelatching bell-crank 53 is freely pivoted a latching piece 56 urged in aclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 4, by a spring 51.

The latching piece 56 co-operates with an abutment formed as a pin 58carried by one arm of an operating bell-crank 59 which is pivoted at 60to the frame plate 55. Th other arm of the operating bell-crank 59 isprovided with a slot 6| in which is located a pin 62 carried by a link63 connecting the trip member 8 to the armature ID of the solenoid II.The bell-cranks 53, 59 are sprung towards each other by a spring 64.

The delay cam 41 is provided with a peripheral detent 65 in which, whencontacts 36, 31 are closed, is located a pin 66 carried by a switchoperating means formed by a rocking arm 61 pivoted at 68 to the frameplate 55, the arm 61 having an overturned portion 69 which is engaged bya tail piece 10 of the contact carrier 38. The arm 61 is urged towardsthe delay cam 41 by a spring 1I,

As can be seen from the circuit diagram, Fig. 6, an operating switch 12is provided in the circuit which switch is closed when operation of themachine commences and, at this time, the contacts 36, 31 of the delayswitch are closed as shown in Fig. 4, but at this time the contacts 3|,32, of the knock-off switch are open as the roller I4 is located on thehigh part of cam l3. Also in the circuitis a normally inactive relay 13having normally closed contacts 14 and normally opens contacts 15.

Operation of the apparatus is as follows:

On starting the machine the operating switch 12 is closed, whereuponcurrent passes through line 16, contacts 14, and line 11 to solenoid IIthus energising solenoid I I so that the armature I9 thereof is moved tothe right, as viewed in Fig. 4, thereby withdrawing the trip member 8from the path of the tail 35 of the clutch pawl 6 and permitting theclutch pawl to be engaged with the clutch dog 3, thereby effectingrotation of the driving shaft I. On rotation of the driving shaft I,shafts I2 and 44 are also rotated and rotation of the shaft 44 effectsrotation of the toothed wheel 46 through the 4:1 gearing 49, M, 42, 43.The movement of the link 63 which is effected by the armature I0 onenergisation of solenoid II, causes the operating bell-crank 59 to bemoved to the full position thereof, as shown in Fig. 4, thereby raisingthe latching piece 56 which, in turn, rocks the latching bell-crank 53,counter-clockwise as viewed in Fig. 4, so that the overturned portion 52thereof is moved out of engagement with the tail 5| of pawl 49 whichthereupon, under the influence of spring 50, is engaged in the teeth ofthe wheel 46. Accordingly, the delay cam 41 rotates with the wheel 46and the pin 66 on arm 61 is raised on to the periphery of the delay cam41, thus rocking arm 61, counter-clockwise as viewed in Fig. 4, andswinging the contact carrier 38 counter-clockwise about its pivot 39 tomove the contact 31 out of engagement with the fixed contact 36 and openthe delay switch. Engagement of the pin 66 with the peripheral surfaceof delay cam 41 maintains the delay switch 36, 37 open until the pin 66again enters the detent 65, which occurs when the spindle 45 hascompleted one revolution, at which time the shaft 44 has completed fourrevolutions and the first card fed from the magazine at the input end ofthe machine is located between the rollers 22, 24 at the output end ofthe machine.

Since shaft l2 also has completed four revolutions, the cam I 3 willhave operated contact 3! of the knock-off switch four times but duringthese operations the delay switch 36, 31 is open and the circuit torelay 13 accordingly also is open so that contacts 14 are closed andsolenoid ll remains energised. After the fourth cycle of the main shaftI, however, the delay switch 36, 31 remains closed during continuedoperation of the machine so that, if thereafter the knock-off switch 3|,32 is closed, due to no card being between rollers 22, 24 at theappropriate time, then the circuit to relay I3 is closed, contacts 14are opened, contacts '15 are closed, and solenoid H is de-energised. Onde-energisation of solenoid I I, the trip member 8, as described above,is moved beneath the tall 35 of clutch pawl 6 to effect tripping of theclutch pawl out of engagement with the clutch dog 3 to interrupt theoperation of main shaft I.

From Fig. 4 it will be seen that the delay cam 41 has secured thereto,to move therewith, an abutment formed by a pin 18 which, during rotationof cam 41, engages with a nose 19 on latching piece 56 to rock thelatching piece counterclockwise, as viewed in Fig. 4, out of engagementwith pin 58 on operating bell-crank 59. On disengagement of latchingpiece 56 from pin 58 the latching bell-crank 53 is moved clockwise aboutits pivot 54 by spring 64 so that the overturned portion 52 isinterposed into the path of the tail 5| on pawl 49 whereby when the pin66 is again located in detent 65 the pawl 49 is tripped out ofengagement with the teeth of the wheel 46. The extent of clock-wisemovement of the latching bell-crank 53 is determined by a pin 80 securedto a fixed arm 8| and that of operating bell-crank 56 is determined by afixed pin 83.

If at the end of the fourth cycle of shaft 1 cards are arriving at theoutput end of the machine in proper timed relation, as determined by thedetector roller 22, the trip member 8 remains in the full line positionillustrated in Fig. 4 and the pin 58 on operating bell-crank 59 is notre stored to operative engagement with a face E2 of latching piece 56until the solenoid I l is again die-energised, the pin 58 during thenormal operation of the machine resting against a face 84 on latchingpiece 56 and being moved therefrom into engagement with the face 82when, on de-energisation of solenoid II, the operating bell-crank 59 ismoved clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 4, to the chain line positionthereof.

I claim:

1. In a record card controlled statistical machine having a main shaftdriven from a source of motivating power through a solenoid controlledclutch, apparatus comprising a normally open knock-off switch at theoutput end of the machine and included in the circuit for said solenoid,a normally closed delay switch in series with the knock-off switch, anormally inactive relay connecting said solenoid with a source ofpotential and permitting energisation of the solenoid when one or bothof the knock-off and delay switches is or are open, reduction gearingdriven in timed relation with said main shaft, a one revolution delaycam coupled to the reduction gearing on operation of the solenoid toeffect rotation of the main shaft, switch operating means operated bythe delay cam to retain said delay switch in open condition during theone revolution of said cam, and interrupter means carried by the delaycam to effect uncoupling of the cam from the reduction gearing ontermination of said one revolution thereby to restore the delay switchto the normally closed condition thereof and to condition the solenoidcircuit for subsequent control by the knock-off switch.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, including a toothed wheelcontinuously rotatable by said reduction gearing with a velocity lessthan that of said main shaft, a pawl carried by said delay cam to couplethe cam to said toothed wheel for rotation by said gearing, trip meansoperable by said interrupter means to render the pawl inactive, and anactuator operable by said solenoid on conditioning thereof to clutch themain shaft to the motivating means therefor to render the pawl active.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the trip means and actuatorcomprise a latching bellcrank to co-operate with said pawl, an operatingbell-crank, a pivot for each said bell-crank, a spring connecting onearm of each bell-crank and tending to urge the arms towards each other,an abutment carried by said one arm of the operating bell-crank, alatching piece freely pivoted on said one arm of the latchingbell-crank, a spring urging the latching piece towards said abutment,and a nose on said latching piece for engagement by said interruptermeans to effect displacement of the latching piece from activeengagement with said abutment.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, including conditioning means operableonce during each revolution of the main shaft to permit closing of theknock-off switch, said conditioning means comprising a lengthwisemovable contact operating arm to operate a moving contact of theknock-01f switch, a freely pivoted contact carrier for said movingcontact, a sloping face on said operating arm engaged by said contactcarrier to control pivotal movement of the carrier on lengthwisemovement of the operating arm, a rocking spindle connected with saidoperating arm to effect lengthwise movement thereof, a detector rollercarried by the rocking spindle for movement thereby through the path ofcards moving through the machine, a cam rotatable at the angularvelocity of said main shaft and having a dwell to permit movement of theoperating arm to close said knock-off switch when no card is engaged bythe detector roller on movement thereof towards said card path, a linkoperable by said cam, an arm secured to said rocking spindle, a pin andslot connection between said link and arm, and a spring normallyretaining the pin engaged with one end of the slot to permit rocking ofthe rocking spindle to move the detector roller towards the card pathand to permit relative movement between the link and arm when thedetector roller is arrested by a card.

5. In a record card controlled statistical machine having a main shaftdriven from a source of motivating power through a solenoid controlledclutch, apparatus comprising a normally open knock-off switch at theoutput end of the machine and included in the circuit for said solenoid,a

7 normally closed delay switch in series with the knock-off switch, anormally inactive relay connecting said solenoid with a source ofpotential and permitting energisation of the solenoid when one or bothof the knock-off and delay switches is or are open, reduction gearingdriven in timed relation with said main shaft, a one-revolution delaycam coupled to the reduction gearing on operation of the solenoid toeffect rotation of the main shaft, switch operating means operated bythe delay cam to retain said delay switch in open condition during theone revolution of said delay cam, interrupter means carried by the delaycam to effect uncoupling of the cam from the reduction gearing ontermination of said one revolution thereby to restore the delay switchto the normally closed condition thereof and to condition the solenoidcircuit for subsequent control by the knock-off switch, a horizontallymovable contact operating arm to support a moving contact of theknock-off switch, a freely pivoted contact carrier for said movingcontact, a sloping face on said operating arm engaged by said contactcarrier to control pivotal movement of the carrier on lengthwisemovement of the operating arm, a rocking spindle connected with saidoperating arm to effect lengthwise movement thereof, a detector rollercarried by the rocking spindle for movement thereby through the path ofcards moving through the machine, a cam rotatable at the angularvelocity of said main shaft and having a dwell to permit movement of theoperating arm to close said knock-off switch when no card is engaged bythe detector roller on movement thereof towards said card path, a linkoperable by said cam, an arm secured to said rocking spindle, a pin andslot connecting between said link and arm, and a spring normallyretaining the pin engaged with one end of the slot to permit rocking ofthe rocking spindle to move the detector roller towards the card pathand to permit relative movement between the link and arm when thedetector roller is arrested by a card.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5, including a toothed wheelcontinuously rotatable by said reduction gearing with a velocity lessthan that of said main shaft, a pawl carried by said delay cam to couplethe cam to said toothed wheel for rotation by said gearing, trip meansoperable by said interrupter means to render the pawl inactive, and anactuator operable by said solenoid on conditioning thereof to clutch themain shaft to the motivating means therefor to render the pawl active.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the trip means and actuatorcomprise a latching bell-crank to co-operate with said pawl, anoperating bell-crank, a pivot for each said bell-crank, a springconnecting one arm of each bell-crank and tending to urge the armstowards each other, an abutment carried by said one arm of the operatingbell-crank, a latching piece freely pivoted on said one arm of thelatching bell-crank, a spring urging the latching piece towards saidabutment, and a nose on said latching piece for engagement by saidinterrupter means to effect displacement of the latching piece fromactive engagement with said abutment.

No references cited.

